Most players who try to play meta decks without any knowledge of how those works usually have some problems, mostly because of the card's rulings. However, most players that keep doing that or when some try for their first time building a different deck of their own, they often don't know a simple basis of what makes a deck resilient is not which card you put, but how the card works in the deck.
We will start looking at a, somewhat, forgotten card:
In the old days (perhaps, about when this archetype was created) the definition of "winning" in this game was who had the highest Life Points. Today, things are far different. It's all about field control and card advantage: Field control meaning which player got more cards on the field or at least can decide which cards your opponent plays goes on; card advantage being having more cards than your opponent, both hand and field, or at least having a nice and long standing way to fill your hand quickly.
You may wonder why talk about a card that is archetype related and not been used. Well, Gravekeeper's Stele is a good example of a card that gives card advantage: you spend this spell to add two GKs monsters to your hand. Two cards for one, 2:1 or +1 (we're sticking with this one). It's rare finding cards that gives a +1 advantage without being archetype related, that is, cards that Konami hasn't forbidden it's use on Advanced Format (Pot of Greed). Another example would be Salvage, which brings 2 WATER monsters under 1500 Attack points.
Regardless of which cards you use (as long the strategy is solid and focused), this is a serious factor in every deck. Just for definition, almost every monster is considered +0, as it doesn't do much (if you don't count it's effect) and can always be a Synchro or XYZ material, almost every Spell card is a -1 if they don't add anything to your hand, field or graveyard (most likely specific cards) and the most common Trap cards are +0, as they often have no costs or costs Life Points, which means nothing in this point of view.
Now, it doesn't means that spells are a bad factor, many of them have an archetype interaction that makes a +0 or even a -1 useful, like Trade-In and Dark World Dealings, respectively. Spells that destroys one card on the field makes them 0, or in the case of Dark Hole or Heavy Storm, an average of +2. Fields that have a trigger effect like Dragon's Ravine and Dark World Dealings are both +1. Few Spells are like Pot of Avarice, which is clearly +1. In rarer cases, there are spells like Future Fusion, which can work as +4 for Chaos Dragons, as it sends to the grave Dragon monsters that works better there.
Monsters are the ones that can variate their value a bit. For a Twilight/Lightsworn deck, LS monsters can worth pretty much how many cards they mill. That makes a Lyla a +3, as milling isn't going affect how the deck works. Monsters that can special summon themselves can be considered as +1, as you won't spend your normal summon and you're going to develop your field control. At the same time, Tribute Summoning a monster is considered as -1, even if you're playing Frog Monarchs. Some Monsters like Rescue Rabbit are worth +2, as you give up of a low-attack monster to 2 beatsticks and, most often, make an XYZ summon with those.
As for Trap Cards, those are tricky ones. Ones like Torrential Tribute and Mirror Force, although having a specific condition to activate, are worth a basis of +2. Others more specific, like Starlight Road, are worth +2 for negating and destroying an opponent's card (or, if you're that desperate, your card) and summon a beatstick monster able to negate another opponent card. Now, for ones that have a cost, they may not always be considered -1. Let's say your monster is going to be removed from the field by an effect; Chaining a Trap that tributes your monster for cost to perform some sort of action (like Icarus Attack or Ninjutsu Art of Transformation) makes those a +0 for that time. At any other time would be at least -1, so this is more advantageous.
In a way of speak, the higher the sum of the value of all the cards in your deck, the better your gameplay will become and less often you'll start with a bad hand. It doesn't mean, though, that decks have a better sum are better than the other. The strategy of the deck is an important factor as well, which makes this value meaning less to a different kind of deck. That makes an average of this value important to evaluate your hand or (if you can check with some effect) your opponent's. For some decks, low or even negative cards are a good factor, like Bubbleman-centered HERO deck, Infernities or a Laval deck. In those cases, you'll have a harder time to maintain field control than trying to determinate their level, as most of those decks relies on turning their deck in a remain of + cards.
There is, though, a way of taking advantage of this counting: Let's say that in a match you are about to either win or lose the first duel and most of your opponent's deck is already revealed in the grave and/or the field. Before the last move of the duel is made, ask permission to check your opponent's graveyard and make a brief counting of his/her cards. Even if there are 15 cards or so remaining in the deck, it doesn't matter that much. If you're dealing with a metadeck, they aren't that much different, so about any rough number you come up with it's just as close as the real one. Besides, either by winning or losing, if you're playing a deck that is worth to side against it, they'll most likely replace their 0 or negative cards by some other of the same kind. As those side cards rarely can work with their main deck, the counting will be still the same and you'll face a bit slower deck, but with some advantage towards you. Any card that your opponent plays shows a bit more of what to expect for his last draw, so learn how many +, how many 0 or - cards are there makes their move less surprising (as about any metadeck is).
That's all for now. Keep your minds working on how defeat any opponent and remember: Play with your brains, not with your money.
We will start looking at a, somewhat, forgotten card:
In the old days (perhaps, about when this archetype was created) the definition of "winning" in this game was who had the highest Life Points. Today, things are far different. It's all about field control and card advantage: Field control meaning which player got more cards on the field or at least can decide which cards your opponent plays goes on; card advantage being having more cards than your opponent, both hand and field, or at least having a nice and long standing way to fill your hand quickly.
You may wonder why talk about a card that is archetype related and not been used. Well, Gravekeeper's Stele is a good example of a card that gives card advantage: you spend this spell to add two GKs monsters to your hand. Two cards for one, 2:1 or +1 (we're sticking with this one). It's rare finding cards that gives a +1 advantage without being archetype related, that is, cards that Konami hasn't forbidden it's use on Advanced Format (Pot of Greed). Another example would be Salvage, which brings 2 WATER monsters under 1500 Attack points.
Regardless of which cards you use (as long the strategy is solid and focused), this is a serious factor in every deck. Just for definition, almost every monster is considered +0, as it doesn't do much (if you don't count it's effect) and can always be a Synchro or XYZ material, almost every Spell card is a -1 if they don't add anything to your hand, field or graveyard (most likely specific cards) and the most common Trap cards are +0, as they often have no costs or costs Life Points, which means nothing in this point of view.
Now, it doesn't means that spells are a bad factor, many of them have an archetype interaction that makes a +0 or even a -1 useful, like Trade-In and Dark World Dealings, respectively. Spells that destroys one card on the field makes them 0, or in the case of Dark Hole or Heavy Storm, an average of +2. Fields that have a trigger effect like Dragon's Ravine and Dark World Dealings are both +1. Few Spells are like Pot of Avarice, which is clearly +1. In rarer cases, there are spells like Future Fusion, which can work as +4 for Chaos Dragons, as it sends to the grave Dragon monsters that works better there.
Monsters are the ones that can variate their value a bit. For a Twilight/Lightsworn deck, LS monsters can worth pretty much how many cards they mill. That makes a Lyla a +3, as milling isn't going affect how the deck works. Monsters that can special summon themselves can be considered as +1, as you won't spend your normal summon and you're going to develop your field control. At the same time, Tribute Summoning a monster is considered as -1, even if you're playing Frog Monarchs. Some Monsters like Rescue Rabbit are worth +2, as you give up of a low-attack monster to 2 beatsticks and, most often, make an XYZ summon with those.
As for Trap Cards, those are tricky ones. Ones like Torrential Tribute and Mirror Force, although having a specific condition to activate, are worth a basis of +2. Others more specific, like Starlight Road, are worth +2 for negating and destroying an opponent's card (or, if you're that desperate, your card) and summon a beatstick monster able to negate another opponent card. Now, for ones that have a cost, they may not always be considered -1. Let's say your monster is going to be removed from the field by an effect; Chaining a Trap that tributes your monster for cost to perform some sort of action (like Icarus Attack or Ninjutsu Art of Transformation) makes those a +0 for that time. At any other time would be at least -1, so this is more advantageous.
In a way of speak, the higher the sum of the value of all the cards in your deck, the better your gameplay will become and less often you'll start with a bad hand. It doesn't mean, though, that decks have a better sum are better than the other. The strategy of the deck is an important factor as well, which makes this value meaning less to a different kind of deck. That makes an average of this value important to evaluate your hand or (if you can check with some effect) your opponent's. For some decks, low or even negative cards are a good factor, like Bubbleman-centered HERO deck, Infernities or a Laval deck. In those cases, you'll have a harder time to maintain field control than trying to determinate their level, as most of those decks relies on turning their deck in a remain of + cards.
There is, though, a way of taking advantage of this counting: Let's say that in a match you are about to either win or lose the first duel and most of your opponent's deck is already revealed in the grave and/or the field. Before the last move of the duel is made, ask permission to check your opponent's graveyard and make a brief counting of his/her cards. Even if there are 15 cards or so remaining in the deck, it doesn't matter that much. If you're dealing with a metadeck, they aren't that much different, so about any rough number you come up with it's just as close as the real one. Besides, either by winning or losing, if you're playing a deck that is worth to side against it, they'll most likely replace their 0 or negative cards by some other of the same kind. As those side cards rarely can work with their main deck, the counting will be still the same and you'll face a bit slower deck, but with some advantage towards you. Any card that your opponent plays shows a bit more of what to expect for his last draw, so learn how many +, how many 0 or - cards are there makes their move less surprising (as about any metadeck is).
That's all for now. Keep your minds working on how defeat any opponent and remember: Play with your brains, not with your money.
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